Aspiring to overcome manpower challenges

I APPLAUD our government for endorsing the recommendations of the Aspire committee to make lifelong learning a way of life in Singapore. These breakthrough recommendations could overcome our manpower challenges while optimising the potential of everyone.

In the past, graduating from an educational institution marked the point where education stopped and work began. Now, education and work are intertwined. Employers used to take generalists and train them into specialists for their job role or industry. However, fewer employers now want to do that or can afford to do so in a globally competitive economy, especially when they are too small to conduct such training given their limited scale and resources. To meet these needs, education institutions have to deliver not just theoretical knowledge but practical, industry relevant skills for "plug-and-play" readiness in the work place.

In her closing speech at the Parliamentary debate on Aspire (Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review) on 9 September 2014, Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Education and Law, emphasised that Aspire is part of a bigger, holistic and strategic move by the government to align education with the industry. Applied learning has been introduced at the primary and secondary stage to complement already strong academic foundations. Individuals can pursue applied degree pathways offered by the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and SIM University (UniSIM). Even academic universities will have applied learning elements as they proceed to strengthen their internship programmes. Applied learning will be further deepened in the polytechnics and ITE. There will be a whole spectrum of applied education components providing multiple pathways for individuals to acquire industry relevant skills before they join the workforce.